H.I. Marrou’s A History of Education in Antiquity, Part V (Ad Navseam, Episode 139)

Ad Navseam

This week, Jeff and Dave continue on their stroll through the wonders of Marrou's volume on ancient education. Specifically, they look at Chapter V and the question of the Sophists. Men like Protagoras, Gorgias, and Prodicus were doing something new and unusual at the close of the fifth century, no doubt. And that something was -- wait for it -- selling education! Many arch-conservatives like Plato and Aristophanes did not take to it kindly. But is there any way to sort the wheat from the chaff? How can we know that what Plato tells us about the Sophists is the genuine article, and not just some envious hyperbole? Were these traveling salesman peddling snake oil, or could they really teach how to govern a state properly, the πολιτικὴ τέχνη. And if so, does that constitute ἐπιστήμη? Come along for a lively discussion, complete with the usual round of questionable puns, absurd asides, and just a dash of inanity. Before long, you'll be eating at the Midway food court just like the rest of us. Did someone say M-Burger?